THE FIFTY FOURTH ANNUAL HUNGER GAMES
"Ring of Fire"


INTRODUCTION

Feodore Elliot, Reyna Bayer, and James Stradivarius had all served one year as head gamemaker. They would each pilot the games ship once more before the Capitolites would vote on which talented person would take the full time job. The second round of campaigning was much rougher than the first. Each candidate had served once already, and their teams were under immense pressure to meet and surpass the grandeur of those games on their second turn. Snow was looking for more elaborate arenas, mutts, and tributes than ever before. After resting for two years, Feodore was up to the bat. His Titanic arena of the fifty-first games was still one of the Capitol's favorites, and it would be difficult to create a games of equal might.

The three career districts were once again up to the challenge of offering up three boys and three girls to fight valiantly in the games. After an outlier victory the year prior, the academies were more determined than ever to produce the games' victor. District 1's tributes were as beautiful as always. The male was particularly dreamy, whipping up an incredible amount of sponsors before the games even started. He could work magic with knives, but could fight well with virtually any bladed weapon, from katanas to shotels. The female was one to get a little cocky at times. It was a great quality of a career to possess leadership skills, but she went over the top, acting bossier than was necessary. In combat, she was a stellar with bow and arrows. District 2's tributes were undoubtedly the strongest this year. The boy could fight with virtually any weapon placed in front of him. He also had looks to match and managed to pull a few sponsors away from District 1. He was a conventional all-in-it-for-the-honor career. The female liked to ambush her prey, a unique strategy that was seldom seen in career tributes at the time. Time would tell how this would turn out in the arena, as she fancied swords, weapons that were typically used for up-close-and-personal fighting. The District 4 tributes had decent skills, but were ultimately overshadowed by their flashier peers from 1 and 2. The boy was the lowest scorer, earning a meager eight due to a lack of training compared to his allies. He was somewhat stubborn as well. The female was more solitary and quiet, though she was a formidable fighter with throwing knives. Their training scores were average, with three tens, two nines, and an eight.

This year's crop of outliers didn't have many standouts, but only time would tell as the games wore on. Blight and Finch of District 7 earned incredible tens in their private sessions, displaying their skills with battle axes and wilderness survival. The two sevens allied prior to the games and aimed to have a similar strategy to the career pack, hunting for outliers and having one camp to return to at the end of each day. Sevens were scored by Vary from 5, Madaline from 6, Bette from 9, Thomas from 10, and Peat and Clover from District 12. Peat and Clover were pretty close relatives, second cousins in fact. They allied prior to the games, going down as the first District 12 tributes to ally in ages. Vary almost scored an eight, but was held back by an unexplainable fear of fire. She did fight well with whips and bows, though. Cosima from 3, Oiler from 6, and Ursula from 10 earned sixes. The rest of the tributes scored between five and three in their private sessions. There was a single volunteer outside of the careers: the girl from District 8. Her name was Reticella, and she volunteered to escape dastardly living conditions and abuse in her home. Here are the tributes:

District 1: Silver Cellant, 18, (9) 6-1 and Harpsichord Spillane, 17, (9) 7-1

District 2: Torcall Thurmond, 16, (10) 4-1 and Alsalla Phillips, 17, (10) 5-1

District 3: Geordi Sclocco, 15, (4) 28-1 and Cosima Netter, 16, (6) 23-1

District 4: Mussel Wescott, 18, (8) 8-1 and Amrita Dibb, 18, (10) 5-1

District 5: Ronan Bickell, 12, (3) 60-1 and Vary Tailor, 17, (7) 12-1

District 6: Oiler Wompanog, 13, (6) 25-1 and Madaline Kramer, 12, (7) 17-1

District 7: Blight Holzer, 18, (10) 7-1 and Finch Sycamora, 17, (10) 7-1

District 8: Serge Black, 17, (5) 24-1 and Reticella Klotz, 18, (5) 20-1

District 9: Ezra Greenwood, 13, (3) 49-1 and Bette Cotton, 16, (7) 13-1

District 10: Thomas Pawlaczyk, 18, (7) 11-1 and Ursula Stringer, 18, (6) 21-1

District 11: Quice D'elia, 13, (3) 45-1 and Cerise Hye, 16, (5) 22-1

District 12: Peat Turner, 18, (7) 15-1 and Clover Etna, 18, (7) 14-1

HGBO Bets: 7% on Torcall and Alsalla, 6% on Silver, Harpsichord, Amrita, Blight, and Finch, 5% on Mussel, Vary, Madaline, Bette, Thomas, Peat, and Clover, 4% on Cosima, Oiler, and Ursula, 3% on Serge, Reticella, and Cerise, 2% on Geordi, 1% or less on Ronan, Ezra, and Quince.


THE GAMES

This year's arena was one of the most stunning that the nation had seen in a long time. Feodore really outdid himself for the arena, and the mayhem that would take place inside of it was sure to be spectacular. The tributes this year found themselves in ancient Roman outfits. The girls wore tasteful white tunics with gold waistbands. They wore crescent-shaped silver amulets. They donned jeweled bracelets and anklets. The boys wore sleeveless draped shirts that went down to their knees. The shirts were held up by leather belts. The two tributes from District 2 wore elaborate draped tunics with royal red velvet cloaks. All around them, the ancient city of Pompeii sprawled out. Merchants yelled out prices and advertised new deals. Children played ball. Crowded apartment buildings circled the city. The cornucopia was in the city forum. Columned buildings surrounded the rectangular clearing in the jungle of civilization. Stands were set up everywhere in the forum. Citizens bustled about. The tributes' pedestals were stationed at the base of Jupiter's temple. Inside of the temple, the cornucopia was made of solid stone. Most of its weapons were short, stubby swords—gladiuses, and javelins—pilums. Crossbows, longer swords, and other weapons were also provided, but in fewer numbers. Far beyond the temple, the grand Mount Vesuvius towered over Pompeii. Billowy white clouds surrounded the picturesque mountain. Hikers trekked up its slopes.. To the east of Pompeii, there was a breathtakingly beautiful olive grove. To the south, rolling green hills spread out. The sparkling blue sea was due west. Olive trees and colorful flowers lined the shore. This would be a beautiful place to die. No two ways about it.

The second the tributes could see, they were overwhelmed by the deafening roar of the crowd that surrounded them. Roman citizens (mutts, of course) bustled about, talking and shopping their mechanical lives away. They all curved around the ring of pedestals, programmed that way so that they wouldn't step too close to the tributes and blow them up. Mount Vesuvius loomed overhead like a guard over the city, and its presence made some of the tributes feel weirdly unnerved.

As the countdown ticked away, Torcall from District 2 squirmed his way out of his elaborate Roman outfit, not wanting it to impede his movements once the games started. He threw the velvet cloak aside. The garment landed at the base of a nearby boy's pedestal. In an instant, the boy was blown-sky high. After the bloodbath settled down, his remains literally had to be scraped off of the stone ground.

Thomas Pawlaczyk, District 10 Male: 24th, Killed by Torcall, Pre-Bloodbath

The gong rang. Tributes burst forward and backward. While the majority of the tributes decided to fight it out at the bloodbath, a few tributes turned tail instantly and melted into the crowd. They were Madaline from 6, Serge from 8, and Bette from 9.

Harpsichord sprinted up the steps of the temple and was the first tribute to reach the cornucopia. She grabbed a bow and zeroed in on her first kill, a brawny boy whose skin was burnt from years of work in the hot sun. Harpsichord's first arrow missed, sailing a few inches above his shoulder. She cursed and fired a second arrow. This time, her aim was true, and the arrow found its home in the base of his neck. The boy fell to the ground and slid down the steps of the temple, gurgling and moaning unintelligibly as he hopelessly clawed at his throat.

Quince D'elia, District 11 Male: 23rd, Killed by Harpsichord, Bloodbath

Amrita quickly found her way to a crossbow and cornered a weeping girl against the cornucopia. She let the first dart fly from the crossbow. The girl stumbled to one side, but she wasn't fast enough, and the dart shot through her ear like an earring. She collapsed with pain, and Amrita finished her off, firing a second dart into her head.

Cosima Netter, District 3 Female: 22nd, Killed by Amrita, Bloodbath

Seconds later, Torcall managed to trap Cosima's district partner between himself and Alsalla. Torcall dove forward with his gladius and sliced three of the boy's fingers cleanly off. Torcall slashed open his chest, and the boy leaned over, trying to contain his organs in his body. He whirled around to escape, but Alsalla was there, grinding open his torso with her sword.

Geordi Sclocco, District 3 Male: 21st, Killed by Torcall and Alsalla, Bloodbath

Silver picked up a smaller boy and threw him to the ground like nothing. The boy skidded over the stone like a loose pebble before coming to a battered stop in front of the first column. Silver picked up a knife and ran toward the boy. He tried to escape by dragging himself into the crowd, but he wasn't fast enough, and he felt the bite of Silver's knife in his gut. The boy cried for help, but was a goner as the boy continued to hack open his body with his weapon.

Ronan Bickell, District 5 Male: 20th, Killed by Silver, Bloodbath

Torcall spun on his heel and fluidly attacked his next victims: two girls who were fighting over a pack a few feet away. Torcall lashed out with his sword and gored it through the eye of the older of the two girls. The sword pierced her flesh and came out the back of her head. She was dead within seconds, and Torcall prepared to attack the other girl.

Ursula Stringer, District 10 Female: 19th, Killed by Torcall, Bloodbath

Mussel gritted his teeth as he dueled with the clever boy from District 6. They both had pilums, or spears. After nearly five minutes, Mussel triumphed, sliding his pilum into his opponent's leg. The boy gasped and ran in the opposite direction, wanting to escape without any additional bodily harm. Mussel chased the boy into the crowd, weaving through groups of citizens and never letting the boy out of his sight. After a minute or so, the boy collapsed against a brick building, panting. He thought that he had lost Mussel, but he was wrong. Mussel burst out of the crowd an instant later. The boy didn't even flinch as he shoved his pilum straight into his heart.

Oiler Wompanog, District 6 Male: 18th, Killed by Mussel, Bloodbath

Back at the temple, Torcall positioned to attack the second of the two girls. The girl was frozen in terror, unable to move a muscle and Torcall brought down his gladius. At the last moment, the girl threw out her hands to knock Torcall away. The sword simply glanced off of her fingers and went straight into her chest. She screamed and fell backward down the steps, landing with a thud in the crowd of busy citizens at the base of the temple.

Cerise Hye, District 11 Female: 17th, Killed by Torcall, Bloodbath

District 7 allies Blight and Finch had armed themselves with roman battle axes, the weapons of their district. They had gathered several packs of supplies. They were just about to run away when Finch heard a shuffling sound behind her. She whirled around just in time to duck under Alsalla's sword. The District 2 girl cursed and lashed out once more with her sword, this time aiming for Blight. Blight would have died if not for Finch. Finch swung her axe in a wide circle and knocked aside Alsalla's gladius. The weapon flew out of her grasp and sailed through the air far away. Alsalla didn't have time to breathe as Blight buried his axe into her torso. Seconds later, Finch finished her off, severing the head of one of the strongest tributes in the games.

Alsalla Phillips, District 2 Female: 16th, Killed by Blight and Finch, Bloodbath

Mussel and Amrita from District 4 teamed up to make the final bloodbath kill. After killing Oiler, Mussel raced back to the cornucopia. There, he got into a fight with another boy. The boy wasn't very skilled. Mussel was able to disarm him in seconds, sending his weapon clattering to the stones. Mussel kicked the boy in the stomach. He fell backward at Amrita's feet. Amrita quickly fired a dart into his forehead, ending his life for good.

Ezra Greenwood, District 9 Male: 15th, Killed by Mussel and Amrita, Bloodbath

One would have expected the thousands of people milling about the town to be shocked by the ten cannon shots, but the opposite was true. They simply kept on going about their artificial lives, ignoring the louds booms as if they weren't there. The careers all regrouped at the cornucopia. It was a blazing summer day, nearly ninety degrees, and the careers were glad to be inside of the much cooler temple. They cleaned and sharpened their weapons and were soon off on their hunt. The career pack couldn't agree on where to hunt, so they split into two groups. The first group consisted of Silver, Harpsichord, and Mussel. The second group was Torcall and Amrita. The trio melted into the crowd and travelled for the crowded, smelly apartment buildings in the distance. Torcall and Amrita travelled the opposite direction, toward the mammoth Mount Vesuvius. Silver, Harpsichord, and Mussel were going about their hunting spree when Silver leapt at a teenage boy he thought he recognized as one of the tributes. After brutally murdering him, Silver was surprised at the absence of a cannon. Silver's mentor Gold sent him word that it hadn't been a tribute and in fact was a random citizen muttation. Afterward, he and Harpsichord got into a big fight about whether or not they should kill whatever citizens they saw or just kill the ones they knew were tributes. Silver insisted that killing random people from time to time would help them rat out the real tributes faster, whereas Harpsichord thought that it would just let all of the outliers know where they were and would ultimately accomplish nothing. Mussel put in the swing vote, agreeing with Harpsichord. Silver was angry that his opinion wasn't being heard, but he didn't want the fight to get bloody, so he reluctantly agreed. Torcall and Amrita couldn't make it to the mountain in one day. They rested on the outskirts of the city, near a cattle ranch. Amrita killed one of the cattle and cooked it over a fire for her and Torcall to munch on for dinner.

The outliers scattered. After the bloodbath, nine of them were still alive. Those tributes that stayed put in the bustling town faced the most cover, as they were hidden from sight by the crowd and had lots of options for shelter. Vary milled through the town for several hours, admiring the scenery. She had long been fascinated by Roman culture. When the sun started falling, Vary ducked into a pottery shop and hid behind a pile of urns. Blight and Finch didn't let the beauty of the bustling town distract them. After about an hour of searching for shelter, Finch climbed on top of a fruit stand and scouted the area. She pointed out a line of apartment buildings on the horizon. The duo walked briskly in the direction of the apartments. Blight insisted that they find one in a hidden location. The allies went down the line of brick buildings and found a rundown one near the olive grove. It looked like it had been abandoned for years. Several areas of the structure had caved in. The place looked like it might crumple to dust. Blight and Finch marched through one of the broken windows and walked up and down the dark, smelly hallways. They made their secret hideout in the nicest room they could find and laid out their supplies: two axes, a bowl of dried fruit, some rope, and a little cheese. Bette walked west toward the smell of the sea. The stone underfoot changed into sunbaked dirt, which changed into sand. Bette stepped into cool water. The picturesque ocean spread out as far as she could see. Bette set up camp in a shadowy place in a cluster of olive trees. Peat and Clover went east to the olive grove. They hadn't gathered much from the bloodbath, but, luckily, Peat had a bowl. The allies spent all evening picking luscious olives and gathering them in Peat's bowl. They had a feast in the cool of the night, and fell asleep covered in olive juice.

Only the more adventurous tributes decided to head to the mountain. It wasn't easy to leave the comforting crowd of the town and go out into the countryside. However, having the high ground would give these tributes an opportunity to pick up on incoming threats early. Young Madaline was too tired and traumatized to reach the mountain in a single day, so she made her home in the countryside. She picked dandelions and small flowers and munched on the leaves to satisfy her raging hunger. Serge had done a lot of running around in the bloodbath and was soaked with sweat. In his journey to the mountain, he found himself before a small pool of crystal clear water. Serge dunked himself in the water to cool off and slept away the cool night veiled by the tall reeds that surrounded the pool. Reticella was the only tribute to actually reach the mountain. She was deathly afraid of the careers and forced herself through sun and hot wind until she got to the mountain. Reticella was so exhausted she felt as though she might throw up. Unable to move any further, she staggered into a patch of roses and clover and fell asleep.

Day 2 passed, deathless. Silver, Harpsichord, and Mussel got up at four in the morning to hunt so that the element of darkness would be on their side. They had much more room to move around at that hour, since most of the citizens were asleep. Around five, Mussel's flashlight beam landed on Vary, illuminating her sleeping form. A leaf crunched under Harpsichord's foot, and Vary bolted awake. She sprang to her feet and ran. A long chase then ensued. Vary was nimble enough to escape the trio eventually. Once she was sure she was safe, Vary ducked into a bathhouse and took a relaxing hot bath. Blight and Finch spent the day on a hunt through the abandoned apartment building. Wanting to be able to escape their hideout at an instant's notice no matter where they were, they punched out several exits in areas of the building that were still intact. Bette scouted the shoreline and discovered that small crablike creatures dwelled in the sand. Bette collected a few of them and, using sponsored firewood and matches, roasted the scuttling creatures and ate them. Peat and Clover delved further into the olive grove for much of the day. Clover fashioned a sundial from a slab of wood and two sticks, a move that earned her a few more sponsors. They moved their camp to the bank of a murmuring creek. There, their voices would be drowned out by the sound of the water. Day 2 was also the day that many tributes reached the mountain. Madaline took the entire morning to sleep in and then continued her voyage. Madaline was about a hundred feet up the picturesque slope when the blue sky started to turn orange and she stopped. Serge splashed in the pool of water to clean himself off once more and then kept on for the mountain. Luckily, he had managed a gladius from the bloodbath, so he could fend off any attacking tributes or mutts. Reticella, still deathly afraid of the careers, tactfully made her way up the slope. She came to a stop on a flat shelf of rock about a third of the way up and stopped for the day. The duo of Torcall and Amrita made their way up Mount Vesuvius. The path they were taking up the mountain was like the lines of a barber pole. That way, they would cover all of the land on the mountain and be able to catch any outliers that were there.

On the morning of Day 3, a cannon shot startled most of the tributes awake. Silver, Harpischord, and Mussel were hunting when Mussel smelled something familiar: the sea. The others couldn't smell it, but, trusting him to recognize anything water-related because of his living in District 4, followed him. It wasn't long before the ocean came into view. The dawn sun cast golden lines over the rippling water. In the first light of dawn, the citizens of Pompeii were awaking. Sunlight kissed the tops of the olive trees, and it was spreading downward. Silver moved down his arm in a flicking motion to turn off his flashlight. Just as he was about to flick the lever, the flashlight reflected off of something metal. A few minutes before, Bette had seen the careers coming her way and ducked into the sand. Her tribute token, a metal bracelet, spelled her doom. If Silver's light hadn't bounced off of her token, she might have had time to run away while the careers weren't looking and escape.

The trio all bowled toward Bette. Not having any weapons to fight back, the girl got to her feet and ran. Bette wobbled over the sand and entered the city. She didn't stop until she was lost in the crowd. The careers chased after, knocking aside citizens and struggling to keep her in their sight. After ten minutes, Bette stopped running, so exhausted that she couldn't move. She thought she was safe, but she was wrong. Not two seconds later, the trio burst into sight. Bette's gasps were cut short as Silver dug his knife into her chest, twisting it around to cut open more organs. She spun around, but Harpsichord was there. Bette couldn't escape the master archer as she fired a volley of three arrows in her direction. She was like a leaky water balloon. Blood splashed out of her body, running along the cracks in the stone ground.

Bette Cotton, District 9 Female: 14th, Killed by Silver and Harpischord, Day 3

The rest of the day passed without any deaths. However, the tributes began to notice very strange things happening. Peat and Clover broke camp and got back to picking olives. Something was off, but they couldn't tell what. It was almost noon when Peat said that there weren't any birds. He was right. Where the merry chirping of birds in the olive branches had once been, there was only the rustling of fronds and leaves. Where had all of the birds gone? Wanting to get out of the stale air of the crowded town, Vary went to the outskirts of the town, only a few feet into the country. Vary stood up her thermos of water and went away to pick olives. When she returned, the thermos had been knocked over. Was it her imagination? Or was the earth… vibrating? Blight and Finch left the smelly apartment building to hunt for tributes. The expectations of high-scorers that the Capitol had implanted into their brains were not being met, and the pair from 7 were getting less and less sponsor gifts by the day. As they leapt between the shadows in the square, Blight and Finch noticed a faint humming sound from beneath their feet. They followed the directions of the vibrations with their fingers. Their fingers both landed on the peaceful mountain in the distance. The people on Mount Vesuvius itself felt it the worst of all. Serge had only gone a few hundred feet above the slope when one vibration threw him to the ground. He took the hint that it was time to leave. The slope was steep, and Serge had to be careful not to trip. He was making downward progress very slowly, and it looked like he might not reach the ground for several days. Little Madaline was too terrified to move an inch as loose pebbles flew around her. When the tremors began to die down, her mentor Markus sent her a note urgently warning her to get to the ground and far away from the trembling mountain as fast as possible. Madaline discarded the note and buried her face in her hands. The stress of the games was getting to her, and she was quivering with terror like a leaf. Reticella wasn't stupid. She'd watched the fiftieth Hunger Games more times than she could count. She knew for a fact that the mountain was a volcano waiting to blow. Reticella sprinted down the slope as fast as she could. Within minutes, she faltered. Her foot landed on a loose rock. Her entire weight slid on top of the rock, and she toppled forward. Reticella skidded nearly twenty feet down the side of the mountain. Too tired and battered to carry on, she lie still and waited for her body to build up enough energy to get moving.

The early morning of Day 4, the duo of Torcall and Amrita decided to head down the mountain. Torcall's mentor Brutus sent him a note clearly warning him that the mountain was a deadly volcano. They made haste down the side of the mountain. The two nimble careers were efficient enough to make it all of the way down in one day. They rested in a cluster of olive trees at the base of the mountain and sharpened their weapons. Amrita wanted to find Silver, Harpsichord, and Mussel and regroup with them. Torcall disagreed, and it didn't take much convincing to get her to side with him. They didn't want to have to go with less supplies to accommodate three more careers. Torcall and Amrita found their way back to the temple and restocked on supplies. Silver, Mussel, and Harpsichord were still hunting by the sea. They arrived at the temple to clean their weapons mere minutes after Torcall and Amrita left.

The peaceful quiet of the olive grove was shattered by two cannon shots in the early morning of Day 5. Peat and Clover woke up to a strangely beautiful sound. It was like music from a woodwind instrument. They got to their feet to investigate. The pair from 12 stayed so close they were practically touching as they stepped through the grass. They crested a grassy hill and couldn't believe their eyes. At the base of the hill was a trio of fauns. While they had the bodies of human men, they had goat's legs. Knobby horns twisted out of their wispy manes of hair. Each faun held a reed pipe and was blowing into it to create a lovely musical sound.

Peat was getting lost in the music, under its spell. His eyes had a dreamy looked in them. Clover reached over and shook him. One of the fauns was staring up at them, pointing them out with its reed pipe. The duo ducked down. It wasn't five seconds before the first faun came running over top of the hill. Its comrades followed.

The fauns put their lips to their pipes and blew. They danced in a circle around each other as though engaging in a magic ritual. Clover screamed. Long green strands of ivy were growing out of the ground faster than should have been possible, tangling themselves around her feet. Clover struggled to escape, but she couldn't get out no matter how hard she tugged. The fauns played faster and faster. Peat turned around to run, but his feet couldn't move. Bright green vines were tugging down on his feet and chaining them to the ground. Before long, the vines were up to their knees.

The cheery tune of the fauns got faster and faster. Peat and Clover wept and pulled upward with their feet as hard as they could. Still, they couldn't budge. The vines were stronger than steel. The vines had risen up to their belly buttons. Their necks. Their chins.

Suddenly, a plan popped into Peat's mind. He tore off his tribute token—a thin silver necklace—and hurled it at the nearest faun. The faun was so shocked that it dropped its pipe. The vines began to recede, sinking back down into the earth. Clover tore off the earrings from her tribute uniform and chucked them at another faun. It had bought them time, but minutes only. Before long, the vines were rising again, squeezing the life out of them. The two fauns picked their pipes back up in no time, and it was hopeless. The vines closed over their heads and crushed the pair to death.

Peat Turner, District 12 Male: 13th, Killed by Faun Muttations, Day 5

Clover Etna, District 12 Female: 12th, Killed by Faun Muttations, Day 5

The remainder of Day 5, as well as all of Day 6, passed, deathless. Vary travelled a little further into the countryside and set up her camp in a cluster of olive trees around a small pool of sweet-smelling water. Blight and Finch continued to hunt, returning to their secret hideout at the end of each day. Madaline was as terrified as always, huddling on the side of the mountain and never closing her eyes for more than a few seconds at a time. Serge finally made his way to the base of the mountain and jogged back to the crowd in the city. Reticella was losing dangerous amounts of blood. Still unable to move on the flat shelf of rock, energy was draining away from her faster than she was getting it back. Her wounds were becoming infected. They dripped thick yellow pus whenever the wind blew too suddenly. Reticella tried to ask for help from the Capitol, but she could only produce unintelligible groans. Silver, Harpsichord, and Mussel continued hunting in Pompeii. They found that, by hunting primarily at night, they could get more work done. It was cooler at night, so they didn't have to stop and rest as often. They also had the advantage of being able to catch tributes off guard. Torcall and Amrita decided to hunt through the olive grove. On Day 6, Amrita set down her crossbow and wandered away from it. It took the duo hours to find it, hours that they could have spent hunting.

The morning of Day 7, the mountain began to rumble again. This time, it was louder than ever. The only two tributes still on the mountain, Madaline and Reticella, were terrified. Madaline refused to move at all. Her mentor sent her several urgent notes demanding that she evacuate the volcano at once, but she just threw them aside and kept sniveling away. Reticella's infections were only getting worse and worse as time wore on. Dirt and bacteria was entering her body in huge amounts through the broken skin. Several of her injuries had ugly red streaks around them. The horrible thing was that, even though Reticella's world was gripped with agony every moment of the day, she was unable to move a muscle or to cry out in pain. There was no hope of recovery. Reticella had to simply wait for the end.

In the morning light, shoppers began strolling out into the forum and setting up their stands. Silver, Harpsichord, and Mussel stayed in the town for the entire day rather than going to the olive grove and the beach. Around noon, they were all extremely hungry for a snack. Suddenly, Harpsichord saw something that made her mouth flood with saliva. About ten yards away, a merchant was selling delicious snacks. Bread with honey drizzled perfectly overtop. Jars of vibrant purple grapes.

Harpsichord walked over to the wooden stand. She discretely slipped a cup of grapes and a loaf of bread into her pack.

"Hey!" the seller screamed. Harpsichord broke into a run. With superhuman strength, the merchant lifted the wooden stand into the air and hurled it at the girl. She screamed and covered her face. Her allies followed her. The merchant chased after her through the dawn air. Harpsichord slipped through the crowd, but the merchant was behind her, throwing objects her way. He was not happy that the girl had stolen from him.

The chase lasted nearly an hour. Harpsichord and Mussel collapsed in a heap. The man was right behind them. Mussel and Harpsichord gasped as he tore a wooden chair off of the ground and hurled it at them. The narrow leg of the chair knocked into Harpsichord's head and clanged against her skull. Her world grew fuzzy. Harpsichord unzipped her pack and threw the bread and grapes his way, as if he would forgive her if he gave the food back. The man scowled and continued to beat the poor kids up with the chair. Harpsichord died from head trauma within minutes.

Harpsichord Spillane, District 1 Female: 11th, Killed by Merchant Muttation, Day 7

Mussel struggled to get out from under Harpsichord's heavy body. His limbs were tangled with hers, and he couldn't get out of the way fast enough as the merchant brought down the chair upon him. He was toast just like Harpsichord.

Mussel Wescott, District 4 Male: 10th, Killed by Merchant Muttation, Day 7

The rest of Day 7 passed uneventfully. Whilst the merchant was engrossed in the other careers, Silver managed to slip away into the crowd. He ran in one direction for about an hour, wanting to place as much distance between himself and the angry merchant as possible.

Torcall and Amrita were up bright and early on Day 8. They finally got around to hunting in the musty apartment buildings on the outskirts of town. It was so smelly and hot that the duo thought they might choke to death on the air itself. Torcall threw open the door of one particularly rundown building. He coughed and waved his hands in front of his face. He and Amrita delved into the building. In mere seconds, they heard a scraping sound. Amrita and Torcall followed the sound to a small, crowded bedroom. And sitting on the bed was Finch from District 7, sharpening her axe.

Torcall threw himself at the girl. Finch screamed and rolled off of the bed, landing with a thud on the floor. She struggled for the door, but Amrita was there. Amrita picked Finch up by the scruff of her neck and snatched her axe out of her hand. "You won't be needing this anymore," she said with a devilish grin, sticking the blade of the weapon into the wall.

"Don't kill me. Please!" Finch begged.

"Don't worry. We're not going to kill you." Amrita made eye contact with Torcall and smiled a despicable smile. "We want you to tell us where Blight is."

Finch made a small noise and pointed to a nearby stairwell. Amrita carried her upward, with Torcall following behind. They didn't bother to gag her. Perhaps they thought that there wouldn't be any other humans in the smelly, musty abandoned building to hear her.

Finch kept on pointing her captors around. Just as they were beginning to suspect she was pointing in random directions, the two careers spotted a figure at the end of the hallway—Blight. Torcall ran forward. Sword clashed against axe. Blight struggled to fend off Torcall. The fight was mismatched from the start. Torcall had the element of surprise on his side, and he had trained for nearly a decade for these exact moments. Within a minute, Torcall had Blight pinned to the ground. Amrita was so distracted that she loosened her grip on Finch. Finch struggled free. Amrita cursed and chased after her, but she was too fast. Finch smacked Torcall in the back of the head. She underestimated his strength. Torcall grabbed her by the neck and slammed her to the ground right beside her ally Blight.

"I'm sorry, Blight. I'm sorry. I'm so, so sorry," Finch cried out. Tears burned the backs of her eyes. She felt like a traitor. If she had refused to show Amrita and Torcall the way to Blight, only one life would have been lost. Now, because of her stupidity, they were both on the chopping block.

Torcall didn't hesitate. He brought down his sword. Blight and Finch squeezed their eyes shut, praying that their deaths would be quick.

Suddenly, a loud cawing sound filled the air. With a crash, a huge claw broke through the ceiling. Another claw poked through to the right. Both claws had talons as sharp as steak knives. The massive creature tore the ceiling off like the roof of a dollhouse. It was a griffin. The bird was like an eagle, but much, much bigger. It was twice the size of a pickup truck. From the head down, it had the body of a lion—furry torso, strong legs, talons, and all. The griffin cawed and snatched Torcall off of the pair from 7. It lifted him into the sky. The boy screamed and struggled to escape. Blight and Finch stared up, dumbfounded, as the griffin sank its talons into his flesh. He made an ugly moaning sound as the griffin tore him to shreds with its talons.

Torcall Thurmond, District 2 Male: 9th, Killed by Griffin Muttation, Day 8

Amrita screamed and fled down the stairwell. The griffin followed her, breaking through ceilings and walls until its claws wrapped around her body. Amrita was a sock puppet in a paper shredder.

Amrita Dibb, District 4 Female: 8th, Killed by Griffin Muttation, Day 8

Blight and Finch couldn't believe it. Their lives had been saved. The griffin made a wide circle around the building and landed in front of them. It knelt. Finch held out her hand. "Thank you," she said slowly, patting the giant on the back. It squawked contentedly as if she were an old friend.

Day 9 came about, and the volcano Mount Vesuvius was more violent than ever. The rumbles were far too loud for any tribute to dismiss them as meaningless. The vast majority of the tributes were able to trace the rumbles to the mountain. Loose rocks and boulders tumbled down the slopes. In the town, anything not bolted down toppled over. Citizens and tributes fled for their lives. Then, at exactly noon, the first true eruption occurred. The plate of rock at the top of the mountain began to soften, liquefying as if being bent by the strongest hands in the world. Then, it dropped down into the mountain and revealed its inner fiery hell. Lava and smoke boiled upward, exploding out of the crater.

Smoke filled the sky, spreading in all directions. Pumice and ash fell down like rain. Terrified little Madaline finally got up the courage to get up and investigate the rumbles. She hadn't travelled ten steps before a mass of ash came barreling down the mountainside toward her. It was going so fast that she couldn't outrun it. Madaline got on her stomach and slid down the side of the mountain. Even at that speed, she wasn't fast enough to evade the ash. It consumed her in seconds, seemingly crushing her lungs and her throat as it entered her respiratory system. She could only scream deep down in her throat as the eruption consumed her.

Madaline Kramer, District 6 Female: 7th, Killed by Mount Vesuvius Eruption, Day 9

In minutes, the ash reached the city. What had once been the beautiful Pomepeii was in a scene of absolute chaos. Citizens fled, holding onto whatever possessions they could carry. Chunks of rock from the volcano smashed down into the ground, some pieces as small as pebbles and some as large as trucks.

Vary used a weathervane on the roof a wind god's temple to learn that the wind was blowing southeast. So, she ran northwest, the opposite direction the ash would be heading. Vary held a pillow over her head as she ran so that her head wouldn't be damaged by the falling debris. Blight and Finch heard the loud rumbles early and had time to run away. Around eight in the morning, they delved into the olive grove. By the time the volcano erupted, they were nearly twenty miles away, a safe distance. It was horrible, but Blight and Finch could only stand in earnest and watch the beautiful Roman city crumble under the ash.

On the volcano, poor Reticella was next to die. Her infections had progressed so much that she couldn't move or think at all. The ash and pumice consumed her almost right away. The girl was mere hours away from death anyway, and she barely felt it.

Reticella Klotz, District 8 Female: 6th, Killed by Mount Vesuvius Eruption, Day 9

After seeing the first plume of black ash, Serge turned sharply around and fled into the city. He dropped his supplies so they wouldn't weigh him down and ran past overturned fruit stands, past shops, past homes. He had no goal but to get as far away from the erupting volcano as possible. Once Serge was a good distance away, he ducked down low and hoped for the best. It was not to be. Less than a minute later, a rough black rock about two feet in diameter came crashing down and pinned him into the ground. He was dead instantly. He didn't even flinch.

Serge Black, District 8 Male: 5th, Killed by Mount Vesuvius Eruption, Day 9

As ash continued to rain down upon the town, the final four fled to safety. Silver from District 1, the only surviving career, fled to the olive grove. The ground was coated with crumbly ash, and he fell over on the wobbly material multiple times. Blight and Finch didn't speak. They sat beside each other and grimly watched as the volcano destroyed the beautiful town.

Vary fled to the rolling green fields due south after realizing that her route northwest was blocked by a collapsed building. She was less than a hundred feet from her target when an obstacle stood in her way. What had once been a flowing creek was now dried up. It was filled about halfway up with scorching hot volcanic rock. Vary stepped in the rock and screamed. Her leather shoe immediately melted away at the touch of the rock. The bottom of her foot was burned black. There was no way she could escape.

Vary ran alongside the channel for a good half hour. The air was getting dustier and more polluted by the minute. Hopelessly, Vary collapsed the ground, shaking and gasping. It was hopeless. She had no chance of survival. But she had at least some control over her death. Vary picked up one of the pieces of volcanic rock and scraped it across her arm. The heavy line split open, and blood came splashing out. She repeated this for the other arm. Vary collapsed forward as blood seeped from her veins and pooled on the hot stone around her. She died from blood loss three hours later. Now only three tributes were left.

Vary Tailor, District 5 Female: 4th, Killed by Herself, Day 9

In the real life eruption of ancient Mount Vesuvius, something nearly impossible to recreate happened the day after the eruption. A hot wall of dust, a pyroclastic flow, went rushing down the mountain, instantly annihilating everything in its path. Of course, it wouldn't do for this to happen in the Hunger Games. It would be impossible to recreate without also destroying most of the land around the arena, and it would kill all of the tributes instantly, leaving no victor. Feodore needed to end the games quickly.

Silver was exhausted after his trans-arena trek and collapsed near a sullied pond in the olive grove, coughing out dust. He slowly turned his head around at a whirling sound. Silver screamed and scrambled to his feet. A huge fireball was coming his way! Silver dodged the fireball, rolling sideways behind a nearby olive tree. He thought he was safe, but he was wrong. Less than thirty seconds later, the second fireball hit. Silver tried to stumble away, but he couldn't. The fireball landed in his exact location, killing him instantly and frying his remains black. Now, only two tributes were left in the arena.

Silver Cellant, District 1 Male: 3rd, Killed by Fireballs, Day 9

On the other side of the olive grove, Blight and Finch jumped at Silver's cannon shot. They looked at each other and frowned. They were the only two tributes in the arena. They had both been hoping that one of them would die before they would have to kill each other.

The allies picked up their weapons and walked about ten yards away from each other.

"Good luck, friend," Blight said.

"Good luck," Finch repeated.

The two District 7 tributes clashed. All of the cameras in the area focused on them. Metal screamed against metal. Sparks flew between their axes. At first, Finch seemed to be winning. She managed to plant her axe into Blight's hip about three seconds into their duel. Blight keened in pain, and, with the last ounce of his energy, threw up his axe. Finch was too shocked to sidestep as the blade of the weapon landed in her chest. Finch crumpled to the pumice-strewn grass, gasping and shaking. Shaking a bit himself, Blight crawled toward his dying ally.

"Goodbye, friend," he said, and closed Finch's eyes.

Finch Sycamora, District 7 Female: 2nd, Killed by Blight, Day 9

"Blight Holzer of District 7, you are the victor of the fifty-fourth annual Hunger Games!" Feodore shouted, though his voice was barely audible over the roar of the volcano and the screaming of Pompeii's citizens.

Blight didn't do anything spectacular to celebrate his victory. He simply closed his eyes and let the hot summer wind blow against his battered face.

Blight Holzer, District 7 Male: Victor of the Fifty-Fourth Hunger Games, Day 9


AFTERMATH

District 7 was overjoyed to receive their second victor. After Grover's death a few years prior, they had no mentors to guide their tributes. But now, with Blight to mentor future District 7 tributes, countless new opportunities were opened.

Blight moved into the Victor's Village of District 7, across the street from the house that once belonged to Grover.

His victory tour was normal, and nothing out of the ordinary transpired during it.

Blight would live to the age of sixty-six, dying a premature death from alcohol poisoning around the time of the one-hundred second annual Hunger Games. He would become an alcoholic in his late thirties, and the addiction would continue until his death three decades later. He would never marry nor have children. Blight would become one of the nation's more solitary victors, staying to himself whenever possible and making public appearances only when it was mandatory. Much of his life story continues to be unknown to this day.


NEWS

Blight moves into the Victor's Village of District 7.

Mags Flanagan adopts her sixth child, a young boy named Gully.

Woof Dozier has his third and final child, whom he calls Scarf.

Brutus Cordley marries his fiancée of five years, a woman named Masana.


LIST OF VICTORS

1HG: Cordin Frey (#1, District 3)
2HG: Sapphire Waber (#1, District 1)
3HG: Molly Toliday (#1, District 4)
4HG: Amelia Spangler (#1, District 2)
5HG: Misty Sablone (#1, District 12)
6HG: Olivia Seager (#2, District 2)
7HG: Flux Stafford (#2, District 3)
8HG: Brandi Coyne (#2, District 1)
9HG: Isaac Crandall (#1, District 5)
10HG: Velvet Farrow (#3, District 1)
11HG: Mags Flanagan (#2, District 4)
12HG: Slate Ogston (#3, District 2)
13HG: Woof Dozier (#1, District 8)
14HG: Blaze Skalnik (#4, District 2)
15HG: Dina Wilmarth (#2, District 5)
16HG: Beatrice Toland (#1, District 6)
17HG: Amelia Bankston (#5, District 2)
18HG: Markus Gardd (#2, District 6)
19HG: Odius Ruttler (#6, District 2)
20HG: Seeder Kaiser (#1, District 11)
21HG: Freya Digard (#7, District 2)
22HG: Gold Carson (#4, District 1)
23HG: Ashlyn Breston (#3, District 6)
24HG: Dayta Albrand (#3, District 3)
25HG: Diamond Griego (#5, District 1)
26HG: Thor Rosner (#8, District 2)
27HG: Magnet Lisagor (#4, District 3)
28HG: Maria Dutra (#3, District 4)
29HG: Discordia Komine (#9, District 2)
30HG: Barley Chisolm (#1, District 9)
31HG: Marlin Coppi (#4, District 4)
32HG: Wyatt Kerdler (#5, District 3)
33HG: Molly Soltan (#5, District 4)
34HG: Grover Handa (#1, District 7)
35HG: Troy Stiles (#6, District 4)
36HG: Lana Voltaire (#10, District 2)
37HG: Lucy Said (#7, District 4)
38HG: Porter Tripp (#3, District 5)
39HG: Penelope Turek (#8, District 4)
40HG: Beetee Latier (#6, District 3)
41HG: Radiance Clinton (#6, District 1)
42HG: Technik Hartline (#7, District 3)
43HG: Dylan Levitt (#9, District 4)
44HG: Rye Boyum (#2, District 9)
45HG: Chaff Korsmun (#2, District 11)
46HG: Nolan Wrack (#11, District 2)
47HG: Klink Byrae (#4, District 5)
48HG: Brutus Cordley (#12, District 2)
49HG: Wiress Freid (#8, District 3)
50HG: Haymitch Abernathy (#2, District 12)
51HG: Lyme Mabbett (#13, District 2)
52HG: Ruby Rayfuse (#7, District 1)
53HG: Lily Eckel (#3, District 11)
54HG: Blight Holzer (#2, District 7)